What You Wear Can Influence How People Perceive Your Race

By Christina Tsuei

Images used in a study that looked at how clothing cues can affect perception of race.

What you wear can influence how others view you — specifically what they perceive your race to be, a new study finds.

The findings show how stereotypes and prejudices play a powerful role in how we mentally categorize people, says Jon Freeman, lead author of the study and a doctoral candidate in psychology at Tufts University.

The researchers, a group of psychologists and sociologists from Tufts, Stanford University and University of California, Irvine, asked study participants to determine the race of computerized faces wearing high-status attire (a business suit) or low-status attire (a janitor’s jumpsuit). Faces viewed in high-status attire were more likely to be seen as white and faces viewed in low-status attire were likely to be seen as black.

Stereotypes were even more influential when a person’s race was visually ambiguous, Freeman tells the Health Blog. When the race isn’t readily apparent, “the biases we already hold are going to have a particularly strong role in shaping perception,” he says.

Using a technique that tracked the movements of a computer mouse, the researchers recorded the trajectory of participants’ hand movements as they selected a racial category on a computer screen. When viewing racially ambiguous faces, they found participants were initially drawn to the race stereotypically associated with the style of dress even if they ultimately chose the opposite. So even if a participant decided a person wearing a business suit was black, the trajectory of the mouse revealed he or she was first drawn to the “white” option.

“Initially categorizing someone as white or black is often believed to be a straightforward, snap judgment, based simply on a person’s facial features like skin color,” Freeman says. “Our findings show that our initial categorizations of race are highly malleable,” affected by context and stereotypes.

That our perception of race can be molded by status cues may have implications for subsequent social interactions, the study reports.

Freeman says the research indicates populations including more mixed-race people may be more susceptible to these kinds of stereotypes and social consequences.

“Hopefully with that knowledge and perhaps public awareness we might make some small steps in reducing racism and prejudice,” he says.

Comments (5 of 23)

As I read the comments it saddens me, I know many well round people of color and I am talking about of all shades and when I see comments like that I see no color but an ignorant soul that if they keep it up God got a good place for you. Now for those that talk like ignorant little boys and girls be award the things you say and do to other will come back to you if not then those you love.

5:38 pm March 2, 2012

Chris wrote :

There was a study done that showed that people that held racist attitudes were more likely to be conservative and have a lower IQ. When I read some of the comments here, I can see that this study was right on the mark.

11:38 am October 5, 2011

Stella Baskomb wrote :

"You know… now that I think about it. Sometimes when President Obama wears a suit, I think he’s white"

'sfunny. Sometimes when President Obama wears a suit, I think he’s black.

10:21 am October 1, 2011

mclicious wrote :

Is there a single person of color to whom this is shocking?

9:02 am September 30, 2011

Antwan wrote :

This is just another sign to let everyone know that racism is still going on and that you just need to be aware if its new form.